World Golf Hall of Fame member Amy Alcott, PGA Tour players Hunter Mahan and Michael Thompson and instructor Sean Foley visited Israel from the 11-20th of November in order to spread the gospel of golf.
“Sports can be a powerful tool to open dialogue and lead to better understanding. With that hope in mind, the pros will host golf clinics with locals, Palestinian and Israeli youth as well as war veterans.”
Read Amy’s article about the Augusta National allowing women to become members in the Daily Beast.
“Now that Augusta National is allowing women to become members, I’m just waiting for my invitation to come in the mail. The club was always going to take this step. It was just a matter of when, not if. I don’t think people function well under ultimatums, and it’s a private club, so it’s entitled to do whatever it wants to do. But it’s really about doing the right thing.”
Meet Gil Hanse, leader of the design team that beat out some of the biggest names in golf to win the design bid for Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic golf course. Amy is also interviewed, offering some insights to the team’s vision for the Olympic course:
“… the legacy that we want to leave behind, to inspire and encourage Brazilian youngsters to take up the game. We want to create a new generation of golfers there. Part of this whole design plan is a golf academy that Gil and I designed together, and hopefully it can become a state-of-the-art center.”
Hanse Golf Course Design Selected by Rio 2016™ to Design Golf Venue For the Olympic Games
“As it marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport. It will enable Rio to host important events in the international calendar and it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area,” said the President of Rio 2016™, Carlos Arthur Nuzman. “This course will be an excellent facility for the practice and development of golf and will inspire millions of youth across Brazil and the globe. We look forward to welcoming the athletes and spectators to the course in 2016.”
Terrific interview of Amy by Rick Lipsey is posted on Golf.com. Learn more about how the selection to design the Rio 2016 golf course came about, the future of golf in Brazil, and how Amy won a 100-pound Hershey’s bar.
Statement from LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan on the 2016 Olympic Golf Course Design Decision:
“There was an incredible amount of due diligence to the design team selection process. There was obviously a lot of talent among the finalists – including LPGA representation from many of the finalists that presented in Brazil. Congratulations to Hanse Golf Course Design and World Golf Hall of Fame member Amy Alcott. We look forward to working with them as we move toward the Olympics in 2016.”
More coverage on the selection of Amy’s team for the Olympic Golf Course design, with insight to some of the selection process and its significance in the golfing community.
Full article in the On Par New York Times Golf Blog.
I’m excited to share with you that I am part of a design team that will make a final presentation later this month to the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee for the Olympic golf course design project. Our team is led by my good friend and noted architect Gil Hanse. Gil was named GOLF Magazine’s 2009 “Golf Course Architect of the Year” and has designed courses throughout the United States and around the world. He has been entrusted with renovations of The Country Club of Brookline, Fishers Island Club, Los Angeles North and a host of other classic venues. And earlier this year he was commissioned to build 27 new holes at Bandon Dunes in Oregon. Needless to say, to team up with Gil, in association with Gil Hanse Golf Design, and our other partners from The Larkin Group for such a landmark project is a true honor. And for all of you history buffs, 2016 will be the first time since 1904 that golf will be contested in the Games so being a part of this particular design project brings even greater significance for the opportunities this presents for the game of golf locally in Brazil as well as globally.
Amy Alcott, who won five major championships over a stellar career, and Charlie Sifford, who broke the PGA’s color barrier, will be inducted into the SCGA Hall of Fame on October 25, 2011.
Check out the fabulous video the SCGA produced for Amy’s induction:
You can read the full article on SCGA’s website.
Amy Alcott is among “100 voters from 17 countries who evaluated a ballot of 464 candidates to determine Golf.com’s Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and the Top 100 Courses in the World.”
You can read the rest of the article and the full list of panelists at Golf.com.